Clinical perfusionists operate machines that circulate blood and oxygen outside the body during surgeries, including stopping the heart for repairs. They require a bachelor’s degree and certification, and must have precision, delicacy, and montage skills. Job growth potential varies, but the perfusionist remains vital to the healing process.
Clinical perfusionists are highly trained individuals who operate cardiac lung bypass and other machines that help circulate blood and possibly oxygen from outside the body. This can mean that the perfusionist works in or out of surgery. Many of the surgeries for which a clinical perfusionist is needed involve stopping the heart during surgery so repairs can be performed. There are other reasons why perfusion or the need to circulate and oxygenate blood out of the body exists, including the need for ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a combination of profusion techniques that support the heart and lungs.
Each country may have its own clinical perfusionist certification requirements, but most people must have at least a bachelor’s degree before being accepted into a clinical perfusionist program in the US. Studies within degree programs must include significant work in the sciences. Some programs have accepted certain degrees with enthusiasm, such as registered nursing. Each training program may be different, but many have significant prerequisites and may require respiratory therapy training.
After people complete the two- to four-year clinical perfusionist training program, certification is usually required. In the US, perfusionists seek this certification through the American Council on Cardiovascular Profusion. Students must pass several tests to gain certification.
There are not many programs in the US where such training is offered, and competition can be high to get into one. There are good reasons why programs are extremely selective. The operation of cardiac/pulmonary bypass and ECMO equipment requires extraordinary precision and delicacy. Taking circulatory work out of its natural element and controlling it by machine is highly unusual, though now quite common, in the medical world. To do this properly and safely, significant experience is required.
The clinical perfusionist must also be skilled at working in a variety of settings and with many different patient populations. These often include extremely young patients who may require cardiopulmonary bypass while undergoing repair of heart defects. However, these physicians must also be skilled in working with adolescents and younger and older adults, as a need may arise in any of these groups for the services of a clinical perfusionist.
Another skill needed by the clinical perfusionist is a strong aptitude in montage. For each patient requiring extracorporeal (outside the body) circulation (ECC), a different arrangement or multiple tubes, “organs” and artificial pumps may be required. Thus, it can be said that these specialists not only operate the machines that perform the ECC, but also build parts of them for each patient.
There are different accounts of the job growth potential in this field. Some estimate that in places like the US, there may be increased demand over time. There have been some developments that may suggest that certain jobs for the clinical perfusionist may finally be over. Refinements in surgical repairs for some heart defects sometimes mean that cardiac lung bypass is not necessary. However, there are still many circumstances where CPB is needed and the perfusionist is vital to the process of helping people heal.
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